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Saturday, November 17, 2012

'Doraji' for atopic dermatitis

Herb used for cooking and medicine found to decrease lesions in mice

Bae Hyun

“Doraji,”
or balloon flower, is used a lot in herbal dishes in Korea. The herb is
effective in treating atopic dermatitis, according to a research team
at Kyunghee University’s Oriental Medicine College. The research was
published in the latest edition of “Biological & Pharmaceutical
Bulletin,” an international journal.

The team led by professor Bae Hyun-

su
and doctor Kim Jeong-jin at the school noted that incidences of atopic
dermatitis have increased dramatically recently, now affecting up to 20
percent of children in industrialized countries. Until recently, steroid
therapy was widely used for treatment, but it causes side effects.
There have been clinical trials on complementary or alternative
medicines, though their efficacy and safety remained mostly unclear.

The
researchers at Kyunghee noted that the “doraji” root has been used as a
traditional oriental medicine for the treatment of pulmonary and
respiratory disorders such as bronchitis, tonsillitis and asthma. “In
the concept of oriental medicine, the lung is believed to control the
skin; asthma and atopic eczema are both allergic diseases which are
dominated by allergen-specific Th2 cell immune responses,” the research
notes.

“And it has also known that atopic
dermatitis patients have a higher rate of incidence of asthma. So we
hypothesized that doraji, which has been used to treat asthma in the
oriental medicine, may also help treat atopic dermatitis.”

The
researchers fermented extracts from doraji with lactobacillus in
kimchi, as the lactic acid bacteria strains have been reported to reduce
some allergic manifestations in mice and humans.

Then
they fed mice that had atopic dermatitis with the fermented doraji. It
turned out that lesions decreased from 150 micrometers to 50 micrometers
in thickness.

“The research proved the effectiveness
in atopic dermatitis treatment by showing the mechanism discovered in
clinical tests, thus suggesting a new solution for treatment,” professor
Bae said.

“As overuse of immunosuppressant
hinders immunity of the skin, it could be problem for patients suffering
from atopic dermatitis from the mid- to long-term. We expect that
fermented doraji will open up possibilities for new medicine,” doctor
Kim said.